This article examines the intersection of age and ICT (information and communication technology) competency and critiques the "digital natives versus digital immigrants" argument proposed by Prensky (2001aPrensky ( , 2001b. Quantitative analysis was applied to a statistical data set collected in the context of a study with over 2,000 pre-service teachers conducted at the University of British Columbia, Canada, between 2001 and 2004. Findings from this study show that there was not a statistically significant difference with respect to ICT competence among different age groups for either pre-program or post-program surveys. Classroom observations since 2003 in different educational settings in Canada and the United States support this finding. This study implies that the digital divide thought to exist between "native" and "immigrant" users may be misleading, distracting education researchers from more careful consideration of the diversity of ICT users and the nuances of their ICT competencies.

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This chapter describes student online self-assessment from a participatory action research perspective to monitor understanding and writing ability of international ESL students in English. The primary purpose of this chapter is to distinguish between holistic and analytic approaches to online self-assessment and to discuss the procedure for conducting action research on participants’ own online postings. Since both holistic and analytic assessments have benefits and limitations, the author argues that conducting self-assessment through a combination of these two approaches from an action research perspective allows learners of English a better opportunity to understand and monitor their own learning process. Therefore, the learners can have a better control of their learning activities and take an action to improve their online learning outcomes. This study implies that instructors should encourage students to develop their self-assessment skills since Web-based technology provides more freedom for students to monitor their own learning behaviors.